L&T hits new high on winning significant contracts for various businesses

L&T Construction, the construction arm of L&T, has won a slew of orders in India and abroad for its various businesses

Shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) hit a new high of Rs 1,638.65, up 1 per cent on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Monday, in an otherwise weak market, after the construction & engineering major said, L&T Construction, the construction arm of the company, has won a slew of orders in India and abroad for its various businesses. According to L&T, the order value ranges between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore.

The stock was trading higher for the sixth trading session. It surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,624.90, touched on July 15, 2021. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.68 per cent at 52,781 points at 11:40 am. In the past one week, L&T has outperformed the market by gaining 9 per cent, as against a 0.72 per cent rise in the benchmark index.

The power transmission and distribution business has won an order to construct a 220kV transmission line associated with system strengthening in the Ladakh region. The design and execution of this system involves traversing avalanche prone, hilly terrains and ice loading of conductors.

Another turnkey order has been received for urban power distribution in Ayodhya city under the Integrated Power Development Scheme.

Meanwhile globally, the company has won an order to design, supply, construct, install, test, and commission a 132/11kV substation with associated cable works in Dubai City. Additionally, two transmission line packages have been secured in Africa, L&T said in a press release.

"The factories business has secured a prestigious order from a leading cement manufacturer in India to construct a 1.8 MTPA grinding uit in Dolvi, Maharashtra. The scope involves civil, mechanical and equipment installation works," the company said.

L&T’s board is scheduled to meet on July 26, 2021 to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 (Q1FY22).

Given the restart of ordering activity on large multilateral projects such as high-speed rail, analysts believe demand will improve and aid ordering from similar projects in segments like metro, water, etc.

The infrastructure segment has a 75 per cent share of L&T’s consolidated order book. Given the scale of India’s infrastructure deficit, the company remains optimistic about the Government’s intent to complete around 7400 projects as envisaged in the National Infrastructure Pipeline, aggregating to Rs 111 trillion by FY25.

"The project pipeline is expected to be collectively funded by the Central Government, State Governments and PSUs to the extent of 79 per cent with the remaining 21 per cent being envisaged to come from the private sector," L&T said in the financial year 2020-21 (FY21) annual report.

The outlook for FY21-22 is one of cautious optimism, with the country’s GDP regaining positive territory thanks to the base effect in the first half, followed by robust growth in the second. "While the current resurgence of Covid-19 may dent prospects in the initial part of the year, vigorous vaccination efforts and improved adherence to safety protocols should spark a revival in the latter half. We therefore believe the recovery is ‘delayed’ and not ‘derailed’," L&T said.